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Business News Digital
Spotify tops ten million paying users
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 21 May 2014
Spotify has been quiet on user-figures since March 2013, when it declared six million paying customers of its subscription streaming service. The time lag for new figures was generally assumed to be part of a plan to hold off until the big “ten million paying users” announcement could be made, and that turns out to be true.
In that the streaming music company has just issued that stat, telling the world it now has over 40 million active users, of which ten million are signed up to one of its premium subscription packages. That means it has added four million paying users since March last year, and doubled its paying customer base since the end of 2012.
Numerous tel co partnerships and other marketing tie ups, such as that with The Times in the UK, will have helped in that jump, and the service’s geographical reach has more than doubled over that period too, bringing more early-adopter customers into the fold.
But the latest stats reconfirm Spotify as a leader in the streaming space, certainly on a global basis. Though the streaming market at large remains challenging, with long-term profitability still not assured for any of the major players.
And while Spotify’s stats and growth rates are impressive, it is still arguably some way off the size of customer base it needs to become a viable business in the long-term. Though for Spotify, for now, the much mooted IPO – that many expect to occur in the next year – is probably a higher priority. And in that domain, these figures will very much help in the courtship of Wall Street.
Meanwhile, Spotify top man Daniel Ek: “We’ve had an amazing year, growing from 20 markets to 56 as people from around the world embrace streaming music. Ten million subscribers is an important milestone for both Spotify and the entire music industry”.
